Work and Meaning

The Pointless Project  Spend 90 minutes counting blades of grass outside of Jepson Hall. Write a reflection about what this taught you about the meaning of life

Evidence: Record a timelapse. Every ten minutes, write down the total number of blades of grass so far. Submit a selfie with time stamps from the beginning and end of the project. 

Make a list of all the "ugh" tasks you have been procrastinating. There should be at least 20 tasks of this sort. For each task, estimate how long it will take and how much you will hate it. Then identify the thing about this task that makes you absolutely not want to do it. Next, devote one whole day to doing these tasks. Was it as bad as you thought it would be? Did you do something for all 20 tasks? In your reflection, discuss the emotional barriers that have prevented you from these tasks. What were you afraid of? What are you still afraid of? 

Make a table with three columns and 26 rows. In the first column, make a list of 25 things that you've accomplished that you are proud of.  In the second column, In the second column list the biggest challenge you faced in accomplishing each thing. In the third column list the reason you are proud of this accomplishment. Were you surprised by the things that actually make you feel proud? What can you learn from this list? 

Next, make another table with three columns and 26 rows. In the first column of this table, make a list of 25 things that you haven't done yet, but which you think would make you proud to do in the next few years. In the second column list the biggest challenge you think you will face in trying to accomplish it. In the third column list why it would make you proud. 

Then choose one thing on the second list and write out a plan for accomplishing this goal. Make a phone background and wallpaper that is either the text of your goal or a picture that reminds you of the goal, and keep that background and wallpaper on your phone for at least two days. Do at least one concrete thing to make progress toward this goal. 

Talk to someone who is (plausibly) older than 35 years old for at least 20 minutes. Ask them to reflect on whether they think they have achieved their goals for themselves and what has made their life most meaningful. What would they have done differently? What advice do they have for you? Then write about whether you think their advice was good advice and whether (in your view) they have an accurate view of their own lives.

Evidence: Have the person who you interviewed email me to confirm that you had this conversation.

Book a time to staff the meaning of life booth! 

Spend time interviewing people about the meaning of life and then write about what you learned in your reflection, relating these reflections to the readngs about the meaning of life.

 The meaning of life booth will be on [DATE] at [LOCATION]. Book a time at sign up on the signup on your professor's door and arrive at the booth for your shift.  

Name your dream job for five years from now. Then work backward to figure out what someone graduating this year would need to do to maximize the probibility of getting that job. Then complete at least the first step that requires you to do some things in the real world. So don't just revise your resume or update your LinkedIn. That doesn't count! Instead, you can meet with someone at Career Services and make a plan, or zoom with someone in that industry to make some contacts, or schedule the GRE, or sign up for a class that will teach you a necessary skill. In your reflection, talk about whether taking the first step made you more or less excited about this path. What is it about this job that you think is meaningful? 

Evidence: Show me your first step!